Coming Home

Sometimes your world gets flipped upside and you come crashing to a halt. This happened to my husband and I on December 20th when we decided that we needed to cut our travel time short, and come home nearly 4 months early. This decision came a few days after a trip to a hospital in Thailand, because I was in so much pain that I could not longer walk on my left foot. At first, I was surprisingly optimistic that I could stay off my foot for a while and I would heal. You could have called me optimistic at the time but in reality, I was just incredibly stubborn and I wasn’t ready to give up yet. When Ron and I headed home from the hospital, we had a plan to wait a week to see how my foot was healing, and then we would make a decision on further travels.

Three days, 2 planes, a boat, thousands of steps crutching around later, my foot was discolored, swollen up like a balloon, and I was in intense pain. Not to mention, the fact that since I had gotten crutches, my husband had been carrying me around on his back half the time. Needless to say, trying to get around was taking a toll on the both of us.

The morning of December 20th, we were both getting ready, and between my right leg and hip giving out from supporting my weigh, and the severity of how bad my ankle had gotten over the last few days, we decided to start looking for plane tickets home. Realistically, we could have went to the hospital where we were staying on Koh Phangan, but I knew we were past that option. Whether I just needed to stay off my ankle longer, or if I would need surgery, either result would make traveling around for longer even harder on my husband and I. With a heavy heart and eyes full of tears, I started looking for plane tickets home that would leave that night.

After a few hours of looking, I was able to find the cheapest tickets possible that would include one boat transfer, 4 planes totaling over 24 hours in the air, and one overnight layover in Bangkok airport. Including the 12 hour time difference, this flight plan would get us home to Michigan by the night of December 21st. After a long, grueling, and pain inducing commute back to the states, we finally arrived back in Alpena on December 22nd and we headed straight to the ER.

The staff at the ER were able to tell me what they thought was wrong but truthfully, it was just a guess until I could get an MRI. They were able to rule out any broken bones in my ankle, but now I would have to wait for an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. Unfortunately, our timing couldn’t be worse as it was almost Christmas and there was no way we were getting an appointment anytime soon. Thankfully, the receptionist was able to get me an appointment on January 4th.  So until my appointment, we are just in limbo waiting to find out what imaging will show and what the ruling on my ankle and foot will be.

I wish I could say that I have been positive throughout this whole process, but over the last few weeks I have had extreme ups and downs. I have gone back and forth from acceptance and a positive outlook, to almost screaming in agony from pain, and having no pain relief whatsoever. In the end, I know that I will be in good hands and I will get the proper care I need which is what keeps me smiling. I have an amazing family, who has supported my husband and I fully since we have returned home. And I also have a super hero husband who has been carrying me around and taking care of my every need at home. I wholeheartedly believe that everything happens for a reason and that there is a higher purpose of why we were meant to come home. I’ve been mourning the loss of our travel time together, but I know that we can always return to traveling and now is the time for focusing on getting my body back in working shape.

Thank you to everyone that has been following our travel journey. We truly had a remarkable time abroad. We hope that the conversations about traveling we will have in the years to come will opens minds to other beliefs, cultures, and ways of thinking, as well as inspiring others to travel and follow their dreams.

I will still be updating my blog with the time we spent in Thailand, but I wanted to keep everyone abreast of the situation at hand. Thank you all for your love and support and for now our life will just be filled with healing adventures rather than hostel adventures.